As You Wish
by mystabelle
Summary: An S/S story loosely based on the Princess Bride
1. Default Chapter

Hey people! My second attempt at a fan fic! This one is a Princess Bride/Higher Ground combo. The Princess Bride is one of Hayden's fave movies, so I thought this would be a good idea. If you haven't seen the movie, rent it or at least read the book lol. Well, hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: I Shall Never Love Again

Shelby walked into her cabin at Mount Horizon School for troubled teens. She had no idea what had come over her. Today the strangest thing had happened. 

She had woken up that morning and done her usual morning routine. The day was perfectly blah until she arrived in the mess hall. Then it took a turn for the worse.

Scott was sitting with Juliette.

__

Scott was sitting with Juliette.

SCOTT was sitting with Juliette!

And Juliette was sitting there with Scott, a grin on her face. 

What was happening here? Scott usually sat with her. Everyone in the school knew he had a crush on her. Everyone had thought it was cute. Except Shelby. She blew him off. She ignored him. She even insulted him. And until that morning he had been okay with it. He had slowly been distancing himself from her and Shelby had hardly noticed until that morning. 

"Well," she thought. "Two can play at that game." Then another thought hit her. Why did she care? Why did she care that Scott wanted to spend his time with Juliette? It was his choice, wasn't it? After all, Shelby had always ignored him. 

Then why did it bother her so much? 

She sat alone at breakfast, trying not to watch Scott with his perfect teeth, sun-streaked hair and strong arms. He was laughing with Juliette. Smiling at her like he had smiled at Shelby. And Juliette was smiling and laughing back. Shelby knew she couldn't take it anymore. She stormed out of the mess hall and went back to her room.

* * * *

"Did you see the green-eyed monster storm out of here?" Auggie said to Scott, laughing. 

"What?" Scott said, confused.

"Shelby looked like she was going to hit either you or Juliette." 

"Oh." was all Scott replied.

* * * *

Shelby spent the rest of the day trying not to watch the Juliette/Scott combination making eyes at each other. Classes were a snore and free time was not much better. She spent her time in her room, trying to nap but only becoming more and more troubled. She knew that Juliette liked Scott. She had known that since her first day here. But since she had arrived Scott had completely ignored Juliette, preferring to hang around her. 

Shelby skipped supper and continued moping around in her room. She fell into a troubled sleep, spending most of the night awake.

It was a very long and very green night.

She awoke at the crack of dawn. The sun was shining and the birds were singing and Shelby felt different. Different about what, you may ask? The truth was, she felt different about Scott. Now she knew why him sitting with Juliette had bothered her so much. It was because she truly, madly, deeply cared for Scott. And now she was too late.

Shelby pulled on her jeans and an old shirt and ran a brush through her hair. She stormed out of the cabin and ran across the dewy lawn. She arrived at the boy's cabin and knocked on the door, hoping Scott would answer. 

He did.

His sun-streaked hair was messy and his eyes were tired but Shelby looked away, blushing. He was just too beautiful.

"Scott," She began. "I have something to confess." Shelby took a deep breath. "I have spent the whole night becoming a new person. I stayed up all night because of you. I dreamt of you and the time I didn't spend dreaming I thought of you. I have realized I love you and I would do anything for you. I have loved you since this morning and I hope you can forgive me for being so terribly cold to you but I mean this now and I don't want you to date Juliette. I want to be with you." Then she did something terribly brave. She looked into his eyes. His beautiful, stormy blue eyes. 

And he closed the door in her face.

Shelby turned and ran, blinded by tears. She felt stupid and childish but she didn't care. She ran into the forest, to the tree where she always sat and thought. She plunked herself down and cried.

Scott had always been there for her, as dependable as the sun rising in the east. Now the one time it truly mattered he was with Juliette. How could the world be so cruel? She sat in turmoiled thought and self-pity for the remainder of the day. She was there long into the evening. Shelby wondered why no one was looking for her, but she knew that if they wanted to find her, Scott would know where she was. And it was Scott who found her. She knew it was him as soon as she heard the bushes moving. She dried her eyes and tried to look strong.

"Hey," Scott said, sitting down beside her. 

"Oh, is that you Scott?" How nice of you to come looking for me." She said sarcastically. "I'm sure that little joke I played on you this morning has troubled you quite a bit. I apologize." Scott just looked at her, her face silhouetted in the shadow. He lifted her chin up and leaned in and kissed her.

* * * *

The days following were a roller coaster ride for Shelby and Scott. They both admitted their love for each other, but kept it hidden as best they could. Still everyone knew something had changed between them, from the way Shelby called Scott stupid with a slight giggle in her voice, the way their eyes met each other's and they knew what the other was thinking and other things too. They were subtly, yet obviously proclaiming their love for each other.

That was why Scott's disappearance hit Shelby so hard.

One morning he had been there, the next he wasn't. People assumed he was sick until Peter issued an emergency. Apparently Scott wasn't in the infirmary or his classes or his cabin. The school sent out search and rescue and a team covered the wilderness surrounding the school for days.

But Scott was still missing.

People began talking about him running away. Away from what? They asked. Shelby blamed herself. She didn't know why it was her fault, but why else would he had left. She had some hope he would be found but he never was. She locked herself in her cabin and would not speak to anyone. The girls deliberately avoided her and only went in when necessary. Nobody disturbed her, for they knew she was a soul in grieving. 

A week later she emerged. Shelby was older, wiser and a whole world sadder. Juliette was the first person to come across her. In a gesture of kindness, she put her arm around Shelby's shoulder. Shelby looked at her through clear eyes.

"I will never love again." She said quietly.

And she never did.

Hope you guys liked that. Now if you haven't read or seen the Princess Bride, you won't understand this. Trust me, it will all work out.


	2. Chapter Two: Marco

Chapter Two: Marco  
  
What with one thing and another, three years passed.  
  
It was the eve of the day when three years ago Scott had gone missing. It was the one-day every year that Shelby permitted herself to show emotion. She had grown cold yet beautiful. And she had kept her promise. She had never loved again. Sure, she had had boyfriends, simply to please her mother and sister who wanted so desperately to see Shelby get on with her life. And she had. At the age of nineteen, she was engaged to be married to a man her family thought worthy. But keeping with her promise, she did not love him. It was more a marriage of convenience. The man, Marco Pickton- Smyth, was the assistant-executive director of his family's corporation. Marco had no interest in love and neither did Shelby. It worked well for the both of them. Marco's family wanted him to marry so he would produce a child (preferably a son) to inherit the family company. And what a company it was! Shelby had no idea what they did, but Marco was rich and she would be well taken care of. She knew that.  
  
Well this evening that we speak of was the three-year anniversary of Scott's disappearance and also exactly three weeks until her wedding. Shelby sat next to the window in her large bedroom in Marco's manor. Rain drizzled down the window as Shelby sat at her writing desk, a rum and coke next to the letter she was trying to pen. Her psychologist had suggested writing a letter to Scott to tell him how she felt. So far her letter read:  
  
Dearest Scott,  
  
I  
  
And that was where it ended. She could not possibly put down the feelings she only revealed this one night every year. She simply couldn't. Which was why she watched the rain and drank her rum and coke, because she didn't want to feel. "Dearest!" She heard Marco calling outside her door. "I have something for you." Shelby stood up, crossed the room and opened the door. "Yes," she said. Marco handed her a plain brown envelope. "What's this?" She asked, turning it over in her hands. "I haven't the faintest. It arrived in the post today." Marco said. He took one look at her tear stained face and slipped away. Shelby closed the door and sat down at her desk. The letter was clearly addressed to her, yet there was no return address. She took a bronze letter-opener and slid it along the top of the envelope, careful not to rip the paper too badly. She opened it up and pulled out a sheet of lilac-coloured paper.  
  
Dear Shelby, You are cordially invited to a mass at St. Peter's church on Monday, September 15 at 6:00 p.m. Some old friends would like to see you there. From fellow hurting hearts  
  
Shelby was immediately curious. Imagine an invitation like this arriving, on such an important day, she thought. She took it as a sign. On Monday, she decided, she would go to the mass at the church.  
  
* * * *  
  
Shelby was sitting at the breakfast table, eating some toast. Marco sat across from her, pouring over the latest Wall Street stats. Suddenly he put the paper down.  
  
"What have you got planned for today, dearest?" He asked Shelby.  
  
"Not much. I am attending a mass at St. Peter's church at 6." She replied. "Isn't that in that rougher area of town?" Marco said worriedly. "It is, but I should be fine. I'm meeting some friends." Marco was such a worrywart. "I'm worried about our rival company, Exco, darling. They've been known to resort to the lowest tricks. I'm sure kidnapping you wouldn't be out of the question. I'd prefer it if you didn't go." Marco said. Shelby said nothing. Marco certainly wasn't going to tell her what she could or couldn't do. He wouldn't be here at 6 and by the time he got home it would be too late. She would already be long gone.  
  
Hope you guys liked that. Chapter three will be up soon. 


	3. Chapter Three: The Kidnap

Chapter Three: The Kidnap

Shelby walked down the deserted street to St. Peter's church. The place was strangely empty for a day of mass. Maybe it was a private mass, she thought. She wore a simple black pantsuit with a tailored jacket. Not ideal church attire, but it was what she felt was appropriate. She came to the front of the church to find it deserted. The doors were closed and not a soul was in sight. A dingy old street lamp dimly lighted the street. Suddenly she noticed a shadow approaching. It was a hunchbacked man with a crippled leg.

"Spare some change, ma'am?" He croaked. Shelby nodded and opened her purse. As she was digging through she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up nervously. She saw two additional silhouettes, one large and hulking, one tall and thin. Suddenly the large man lunged forward and she felt a sharp pain in her head, and then darkness.

* * * *

Shelby awoke some time later in the backseat of a Taurus station wagon. She was bound and gagged but she could hear her captors talking in front of her. She strained to listen.

"Where are we going again?" A deep voice rumbled.

"Shut up and drive. I'll tell you where to go." Another voice croaked. She recognized it as the hunchback.

"Seriously, sir. Both of us would like to know." A softer male voice asked.

"We are going to the Exco building. Now shut up."

* * * *

Marco arrived home and glanced around, looking for Shelby.

"Dearest?" he called. "Shelby?" 

"Shelby has left for the evening," His butler answered. Marco's face began to get very red.

"I forbade her to leave! She probably went to that horrid cathedral. I shall have to go pick her up." Marco grabbed his jacket and stormed out the door.

* * * *

The Taurus station wagon rumbled further down the deserted road. Shelby had peeked out the window and had noticed they were in the countryside. But she had noticed something else. The road was not completely deserted, for a black sports car followed rather silently behind them. 


	4. Chapter Four: The Ascent

I apologize for the incredible crappiness of the last version…I hadn't updated in so long I had forgotten how too! Please bear with me! ~mystabelle

They arrived at a tall building. The three men roughly pulled Shelby out of the car and forced her to her feet. Hey eyes slowly scanned the building, going up and up and up. At the very top, she could see an orange sign that said, "Exco". The hunchback stood in front of her and her neck snapped downwards to meet his eyes. 

"Madame," he began. "Sorry for not introducing ourselves. I am Roland, professional philosopher and assassin." He took a bow. "This," he said gesturing to the lean, black man on his right. "Is Francis D'Angelo. His name might jog back some memories." And indeed it did. Marc had once been a famous Olympic runner, until he had tested positive for steroids after a competition, ruining his career. "And this," Roland said with a sweeping gesture to his left. "Is Monstro. You may remember him from WWF competitions in the late 80's." And indeed she did. But before she could piece together anything else, she was jostled into Monstro's arms. Roland hobbled over to the trunk and took a large gun like machine out. 

"Franc, shoot this." He commanded. The lean man did as he commanded. A large grappling hook with rope attached flew into the air. Up, up it went until it hit a window. Shelby cringed for the sound of an alarm. There was none.

"Just as promised." Roland chuckled. "Alright then. Monstro, grab the girl. Franc, grab his shoulder." Monstro attached himself to a harness and slung Shelby, still bound and gagged, onto his back. Franc grabbed on and Roland hopped onto Monstro's other shoulder. 

Now understand the true evil of this plot. Francis and Monstro were not bad people, just merely old celebrities; de-throned and looking for a new, less public career. Roland was the brain behind the plot. But he needed Francis's speed and Monstro's strength to carry it off. Often, Francis would entertain Monstro, whose real name was actually Bob, with knock-knock jokes and puns.

This odd ensemble began to scale the building. Monstro went up, arm over arm, all the while keeping his mind focused on his work. Suddenly they heard a car door slam at the foot of the building. Roland peered down. A man in black was standing at the bottom of the tower, staring upwards.

"Ack!" He squawked in displeasure. "Someone has caught up with us!" Francis then looked down.

"Yes it would seem so." He observed.

"If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it." Roland snapped. He looked down once again.

"What? What is he doing?" He gasped in disbelief.

"It would appear, master Roland, that with all due respect, he is climbing the rope," Francis said.

"Silence!" Roland commanded. And indeed the man was climbing the rope. Though they were nearly half way there, the man gained quickly.

"Faster nitwit." Roland snapped at Monstro. "He gains."

"He has only himself. I carry three extra." Monstro countered.

"Don't hurt yourself thinking." Roland grumbled. They continued for minutes longer silence. Finally, they reached the window. Roland and Francis hopped off and undid Shelby and Monstro. 

"Grab the girl." Roland commanded to Monstro. "Franc, stay here and beat this guy up." 

"How do I do that?" Franc inquired.

"Out speed him or something. Just finish him off!" With that, Roland and Monstro went out the office door and into one of the many halls.

* * * *

Marco arrived at the cathedral. All was silent and not a soul stirred along the dimly lit street. 

"Shelby?" He called. "Shelby?" His heart fluttered in fear. Where was she? "Shelby!" he called more urgently. Suddenly the sound of paper fluttering broke the all-encompassing silence. He looked for the source of the sound and found a note taped to the lamppost. "Dearest Marco," it read. "We have your fiancée. We ask for the sum of 3 million dollars to be left at this exact location. Notify police and she will die." He ripped it off and clutched it in his hand. He knew exactly who was behind this heinous scheme: Exco.


	5. Chapter 5: The Man in Black

Well guys, it has been a really, really long time since I have updated. What is new with me? Well, I have written an entire novel, all original fiction, which I am currently editing. I am now in university, so that cuts down on time. However, I went back and read these chapters and I feel a burning desire to finish this up. Kind of a break from editing, the chapters are nice and short, so I expect you will be seeing me around here a bit more.

Hope you enjoy!

Mystabelle

The Man in Black

The man in black carefully exited his car. He was dressed fastidiously; his light brown hair was combed neatly back and he wore a pressed black shirt tucked neatly into his pants. However, one feature stood out about the man on this equally black night: he wore a masquerade mask, concealing the upper half of his face.

He closed the door lightly and looked up at the Exco building. A long rope led up the 30 floors to the top. He lit a cigarette and pondered. To climb the rope would be madness. He walked to the other side of the building, keenly aware of the skinny man watching him from above. The man in black pressed himself against the shadow of the building, concealing himself from the prying eyes above. Then he spotted it: a series of ropes and pulleys used to wash the windows. Satisfied, he took a drag from the cigarette and put it out.

Francis paced nervously. Every slight noise from below made him jump. The sound of a car door closing, a mere click from this height, caused him to break into a sweat. Francis peered out the window. A man lurked below, but he was very hard to see. Then he seemed to disappear. With a chill, Francis hurriedly began to haul up the dangling rope. Drenched in sweat, he finished moments later and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to open the office door when he detected the creak of ropes against metal. He was torn. Escape with Roland or take care of the man in black? He propped the door open with a large rock paperweight from a nearby desk. Then Francis sat on the floor and began to stretch. He had a feeling he would be either chasing the man in black, or running from him, in no time.

Shelby awoke again, gagged and bound. Tears streamed from her eyes. How could she have been so wrong? She should have listened to Marco. She hoped he would come for her.

As Monstro carried her along, she regretted her stupidity. Doors flew by and she wondered about her motivation. What had she been hoping for? Deep in her heart she knew, and the answer did not abate the flow of tears. She had been hoping for Scott.


End file.
